4:12pm: Stocks at record highs
Wall Street finished the week on a positive note, with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 notching new closing records as Friday's jobs report firmed up bets the Fed will hold interest rates at its next meeting.
The Nasdaq added 0.8% at 23,671 points, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% at 6,966 points and the Dow Jones added 0.5% at 49,504 points.
2:52pm: Market movers
Aritzia Inc (TSX:ATZ) shares moved higher as it reported fiscal third quarter earnings that topped analyst expectations, driven by growth in both its retail and eCommerce channels.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) announced that it has signed new partnerships with nuclear power companies Vistra (NYSE:VST), TerraPower and Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) to secure electricity for its growing artificial intelligence operations, including its Prometheus supercluster in New Albany, Ohio. Shares of Oklo jumped 13% to about $110 on the news, and Vistra shares also added 13% at $170.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) said Thursday it will record $7.1 billion in special charges for the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a pullback in its electric vehicle (EV) strategy and restructuring efforts tied to its operations in China. Shares moved lower.
1:04pm: Consumer sentiment improves
Consumer sentiment edged higher in January, reaching its strongest level since September, though overall optimism remains subdued as concerns over rising prices and a weakening labor market continue to affect American workers.
The University of Michigan’s preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment for January stood at 54.0, up 1.1 points from December’s 52.9, but still roughly 25% below the 71.7 recorded a year earlier. The increase exceeded expectations, with Bloomberg data showing economists had forecast a more modest rise to 53.5.
12:05pm: Record day
Globally stocks were in record territory, with the three major US indexes on track to close the first week of 2026 higher. The Nasdaq was up 0.8%, the S&P 500 added 0.7% and the Dow Jones was up 0.6%.
“The FTSE 100 followed the S&P 500, Dow and DAX by hitting a record closing high on the last day of the first full trading week of the year, marking an impressive start to 2026,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.
He noted that mixed data has left markets expecting the Fed to hold rates, but attention is shifting to earnings season.
10:42am: Trump tariff ruling delayed
The US Supreme Court did not issue a ruling Friday in the legal challenge to tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump under emergency powers, leaving the matter unresolved for markets, businesses, and trade partners.
The court released one unrelated opinion but deferred action on the tariff case. No new date for the ruling has been announced. The justices are returning from their holiday recess, and the court could schedule additional opinions in the coming two weeks.
9:55am: Jobs data firms up Fed expectations
Wall Street kicked off Friday’s session in the green as new jobs data cemented expectations the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its January meeting.
The S&P 500 was up 0.3% at 6,939 points, the Dow Jones added 0.2% at 49,362 points, and the Nasdaq was up 0.1% at 23,498 points.
Wells Fargo analysts do not see the employment report meaningfully changing the outlook for US monetary policy.
“The cooling in the labor market still appears to be proceeding at an orderly and gradual pace, which likely will leave the FOMC on hold at its upcoming meeting on January 28,” they wrote.
“But with the unemployment rate still above our estimate of full employment, underlying inflation slowly cooling and the policy rate setting above neutral, we remain of the view that a couple more rate cuts this year is a reasonable base case.”
8:45am: December jobs report soft
US stocks remained on track to open higher as new data released Friday showed modest job growth in December, reinforcing signs of a cooling employment environment heading into 2026.
The economy added 50,000 jobs during the month, according to the Labor Department, below the median estimate of 70,000 from economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Despite the softer payroll gain, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4% from 4.6% in November, compared with expectations for a 4.5% reading.
Household survey data showed little change in overall labor market conditions. The number of unemployed people stood at 7.5 million in December, roughly unchanged from the prior month.
Broader measures of labor market engagement remained stable. The labor force participation rate held at 62.4%, while the employment-population ratio was unchanged at 59.7%, both levels showing little movement over the course of the year.
7:30am: Ahead of the bell
US stock futures were mixed on Friday ahead of a key jobs report and a court ruling on US President Donald Trump's tariff policies.
With two hours to go until trading gets underway, Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%, looking to recover some of yesterday's losses, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% and those for the Dow Jones were flat.
A surge in defense stocks on a proposed spending boost under the Trump administration saw the Dow finish Thursday’s session 0.6% higher. Drops in tech giants Nvidia, Apple and Meta pushed the Nasdaq 0.4% lower, while the S&P 500 ended flat.
Today, attention turns to US jobs numbers and a US Supreme Court decision on the Trump administration’s tariff policies, according to AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"If the court strikes down the tariffs, there may be positives for investors, but it could also hit government revenue, potentially prompting an increase in Treasury yields, which would have ripple effects in the wider financial markets,” Mould added.
The US December non-farm payrolls report lands in about an hour's time. After a string of data delays caused by the government shutdown, this report should offer a "normal" look at the economy, said Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid, with Deutsche forecasting a gain of 50,000 payrolls and a slight dip in unemployment to 4.5%.
However, Reid remains skeptical of the precision of these early figures, especially with five years of annual revisions being baked in at once. As he colorfully puts it, "the random number generator that is the initial payrolls print could be even more random than normal."